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UI purchased a commercial property in Kerala around two years ago, already occupied by a tenant who runs a cafe. Almost immediately, I discovered that dealing with this tenant would be quite challenging. The issues began when I attempted to renew the lease—he refused to sign the new agreement, arguing that he had made beautification improvements to the property with the previous owner’s approval. There was no document for this approval; it was a verbal approval. This led to extensive negotiations, disputes, and discussions among the tenant, the former owner, and myself, but nothing was resolved. I sought legal advice, and my lawyer even reached out to the tenant for mediation; however, the tenant retorted, “we shall see in the court.” Ultimately, after intervention by mutual contacts, I was forced to pay him for his work, leaving me feeling vulnerable and unsupported.
Now, the tenant is requesting permission to repair a staircase and a toilet he constructed (which wasn’t part of the original building plan), as well as additional modifications to the property. I informed him that any further work would necessitate a rent increase, but he refuses to agree to higher rent. I’m reluctant to allow these modifications, mainly because I don’t trust him, and I know that if I deny his requests, he won’t sign the renewal. I really want to evict him from the property. He has been operating his business there for over eight years and even subleased the space to another party, despite the lease prohibiting it. As an NRI, this property represents my hard-earned money, and I now feel uncertain about what to do. I was once very excited to invest all my savings in it, but I’m beginning to think it might have been a mistake. After consulting with at least three lawyers—who all warned that evicting the tenant could take years—I remain completely confused.
Do I have any option here? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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UI am a little noob when it comes to dealing with cops and stuff and I think the cops will see through my facade and quickly realize I’m a wuss. And it kinda always puts me in a “not so good situation”. But I am definitely going to explore this option by seeking help from people who I know are smooth talkers.
For the eviction, I heard that it takes a lot of time to get a tenant evicted. Is that true?
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UThe annual rental agreement expires in May. Exit clauses include not complying with standard terms like vacate after agreement expires, not paying the agreed rent, sub leasing to third party, not paying two terms of license fee etc. although he is subleasing, it is difficult to prove I guess, because I believe they both are running this cafe as partners.
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WI’m going through this with my MIL’s property which I have a POA of. Also an NRI. You have 3 options here.
1) Pay local cops
2) Hire a lawyer and evict
3) Pay someone and get the electric box “stolen”. The tenant will need the owners cooperation to get a new box put in.I’ve done all 3.
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UI am a little noob when it comes to dealing with cops and stuff and I think the cops will see through my facade and quickly realize I’m a wuss. And it kinda always puts me in a “not so good situation”. But I am definitely going to explore this option by seeking help from people who I know are smooth talkers.
For the eviction, I heard that it takes a lot of time to get a tenant evicted. Is that true? -
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MI’m not looking to criticize you. I am just curious, if you can go back in time, what would you have done differently? Do you feel the people around you misled you?
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UI would not buy a property with an existing tenant. Yes, I feel misled. I wish I spoke to and found a good lawyer. I would have a lot more research into the legal side of these things, which is what I’m trying to understand. Even though I am hell bent on evicting the tenant, I have realized that I need to prepare myself with what I am getting into.
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MYes, I can understand how you must be feeling.
I have been seeing a number of people marketing “investment” opportunities to the NRIs. These opportunities are like farms, commercial rental properties, local business partnerships etc.
They heavily play on the average NRI person’s desire to have an emotional connection with their home country/state and their desire to have a stable base in India and establish a steady income stream. Because the NRI doesn’t have local knowledge, these people can easily trap them in these problematic properties. They target people through community organizations and the like.
Don’t struggle with this issue on your own. Pull in all the people who marketed this property to you, whoever facilitated the transaction, the old owner, everyone. They all are complicit in this fraud. If you are involved in community organizations, raise it there. Threaten to file a case on all of them unless they get the tenant out. Raise a big hue and cry. Otherwise they will let you struggle with this on your own and move on to the next victim.
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